I've been writing about political economy and foreign affairs since 2008, first from Forbes' New York offices, then as a freelancer with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in South Asia, and now as a freelancer back in New York. I focus on the way economic forces--poverty, development, energy, natural resources, corruption, crime--shape national and international politics. What excites me is the possibility that an economic approach, by shedding new light on old problems, can point us to innovative solutions.

Unilever Revises Discriminatory AXE Contest Rules

On Monday, I blogged about the Super Bowl ad for Axe, part of a promotional contest the brand is running to send 22 winners to space. I highlighted the campaign’s sexism as both offensive and counterproductive.

At the time, Axe assured me that marketing materials aside, women were welcome to enter the contest and would be treated fairly if they did. But Remco Timmermans has unearthed the terms and conditions for six countries where Axe is excluding women from participating: the UAE, Kuwait, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine and Indonesia. I did some sleuthing of my own and can add a seventh country – Saudi Arabia – to that list.

Several of those countries explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, as does Axe’s parent company, Unilever. I pointed this out to Axe, who say they are now revising the contest rules to include women.

“Unilever has communicated to all markets in all regions, that the contest is open to both men and women. Upon review, certain markets are currently revising their terms & conditions to reflect this directive,” says Matthew McCarthy, senior director of Axe brand development in North America. (Full statement at the bottom of this post.)

McCarthy’s statement does not resolve the controversy surrounding this contest, as the original terms are still in place and no deadline has been set for changing them. Nor does it explain how Unilever came to be in violation of anti-discrimination rules in the first place. As such, it’s worth recapping the legal issues in detail.

1. In Russia, says Marina Drel, a partner at Gowlings in Moscow, “It is amazing to read that women are excluded from the competition. Generally, such a discrimination is prohibited by the Russian Constitution. There is [sic] also a number of relevant provisions in the Labor Code and Criminal Code.”

Indeed, the Russian Constitution (Article 19) guarantees men and women equal rights and equal treatment under the law. It also guarantees “equal opportunities for their pursuit.” The Russian Labor Code prohibits discrimination in hiring or remuneration (Articles 3 and 64). Most damning is Article 282 of the Criminal Code (emphasis mine):

Actions aimed at…abasement of dignityof a person or a group of persons on the basis ofsex, race, nationality, language, origin, attitude to religion, as well as affiliation to any social group, if these acts have been committed in public or with the use of mass mediashall be punishable with a finein the amount of 100 thousand to 300 thousand roubles, or in the amount of a wage/salary or any other income of the convicted person for a period of one to two years, or with deprivation of the right to hold specified offices or to engage in specified activities for a term of up to three years, or with obligatory labour for a term of up to 360 hours, or with corrective labour for a term of up to one year, or with compulsory labour for a term of up to two years, or with deprivation of liberty for the same term. The same deeds committed…by an organised groupshall be punishable with a fine in the amount of 100 thousand to 500 thousand roubles, or in the amount of a wage/salary or any other income of the convicted person for a period of one to three years, or with deprivation of the right to hold specified offices or to engage in specified activities for a term of up to five years, or with obligatory labour for a term of up to 480 hours, or with corrective labour for a term of one to two years, or with compulsory labour for a term of up to five years, or with deprivation of liberty for the same term.

It’s possible that the Axe campaign qualifies as ‘abasement of dignity…with the use of mass media.’ The punishments are draconian, and I don’t defend them. But Russia’s appalling human rights record aside, the point stands that sexism in media does not appear to be legal there.

Once again, the emphasis here is on damaging a person’s dignity – that’s a much broader definition of discrimination than one that depends on demonstrating a material disadvantage. CONAR is itself an affiliate of the European Advertising Standards Authority, which has its own code on the portrayal of gender.

Marketing communications should respect human dignity and should not incite or condone any form of discrimination, including that based upon race, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation.

I put all of this to Axe. Here’s the statement I got back (emphasis mine):

All of our campaigns for AXE are designed to appeal to our target audience: guys and girls ages 18-24. The AXE Apollo contest is open to anyone 18 and over, regardless of gender. While the leaderboard at AXEApollo.com is constantly changing (because of real time votes), we’re pleased to share that in the US, 3 of the top 10 vote-getters are women (with a female contestant in 3rd place overall). Unilever has communicated to all markets in all regions, that the contest is open to both men and women. Upon review, certain markets are currently revising their terms & conditions to reflect this directive. During the second stage of the contest at space camp in December 2013, more than 100 people from around the world will compete for a chance to go to space. Of those 100, 22 finalists will be selected to go to space. Each contestant will be competing against others within their own markets at our space camp in Florida. The final space selection is dependent on each market’s terms & conditions.

The response skirts the legal question, but it does promise to change the terms and conditions to include women. There is no date for announcing new terms, however, so I’ll be checking the Axe Apollo website regularly to see if the terms have changed.

It’s also not clear how the ‘space camp’ stage will work. If 100 people from over 60 different countries are competing for 22 spots on the spaceship, how is it possible for them to only compete against others from their own market? If people who entered under different terms are competing directly against each other, that raises new issues that extend beyond gender. I’ve asked Axe to clarify this further and will update the post with a response if they do.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.